Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book as an arc.
This is a really good read. Mia's husband Zach, a college lecturer, has been dead for 5 years, and is believed to be responsible for the disappearance of his student Josie. Mia is visited by Alison who claims to have information about Zach's death and Mia decides she must put her life on hold while she gets to the bottom of what really happened 5 years ago.
Of course nothing is as it seems, and as the past of the characters emerge, our perception of each one of them changes, their motivations and actions become clearer. There are one or two huge twists which I certainly didn't see coming! Would certainly recommend this book for fans of psychological thrillers and domestic noir.

Everything in Mia Hamilton's perfect life changed when her Husband,university teacher Zach committed suicide on the same night one of his students Josie Carpenter vanished.

Five years later,Mia is just beginning to heal when a stranger Alison walks into her life and claims that Zach didn't kill himself.

As fragile Alison leads Mia on a path into Zach`s past,more and more dark secrets are revealed and Mia begins to wonder if she really knew her husband.As the truth about what happened that night begins to unfold,Alison becomes harder to read,and Mia starts to wonder - why is Alison so keen to help?

Then a piece of the puzzle appears in a impossible place,and Mia has to ask,is she losing her mind,or should she be afraid for her life?

This riveting thriller is narrated from the alternating perspectives of Mia and Josie with Mia`s chapters being set in the present and Josie`s in the past.The characters are all complex,well developed,mostly untrustworthy and nothing is ever what it seems.What really happened that fateful night was totally unexpected,I honestly didn't see that twist coming but my shock at that twist was nothing compared to how I felt when I got to the final chapter,I was so shocked I nearly dropped my kindle.Throughout the whole book Kathryn Croft had been leading me down a certain path and then suddenly I learnt that what I thought I knew was absolutely wrong.

I loved this well written,riveting,twist packed tale of secrets,lies,mental illness,obsessions and misinterpretation.I love Kathryn Croft`s books and wouldn't hesitate in recommending this to anyone who enjoys a gripping thriller.

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Thank you to NetGalley the author and Bookouture for the advance copy of Silent Lies in exchange for an honest review. This is the first book I've read by this author but it certainly won't be my last. I absolutely Loved Silent Lies it had a fantastic storyline and it kept me hooked from the very start and filled with twists along the way that kept me guessing all the way through I couldn't put it down and wow what an ending!!!.

With police investigations and media reportage of crime stories, the public can usually get an accurate account as to what happened in these cases. In Kathryn Croft’s riveting psychological crime thriller “Silent Lies” (2017)-- the real story or the truth isn’t as obvious as it seems, especially when a scandal erupts followed by swift public scorn and judgement.

As a popular instructor/lecturer at the University of West London, Zach Hamilton was happily married to Mia and the father of a young daughter. Zach was impressed with the writing of his student Jose Carpenter, and spoke with her in a coffee shop where Carpenter worked to discuss her underdeveloped talent. Was Zach’s interest in Carpenter inappropriate? Clearly, Carpenter became infatuated with her handsome teacher, and was keeping a low profile from her troubled and violent past. When Zach’s body was found at a grizzly crime scene in Carpenter’s apartment, all hell broke loose! It seemed that everyone had an opinion as to what might have happened there. To make matters worse, Carpenter, was missing and presumed dead, her body was never found. Had the darkness from her past caught up with her?

Five years later, widow Mia Hamilton was still haunted by the aftermath of Zach’s death, ruled a suicide by investigators. News reports kept the case alive online, the shame and humiliation related to unknowing subsided with a loving supportive relationship with Will. Mia had also opened a successful counseling and therapy practice at her home office. When a new mentally disturbed client Alison Cummings sought Mia’s help for emotional distress related to an abusive relationship; Mia learned Cumming’s long term partner was a former friend/colleague of Zach’s, then there was her mysterious connection to Jose Carpenter. Cummings had direct knowledge of Zach’s unsolved case, and stated outright that Zach’s death wasn’t a suicide. Despite Cummings mental instability, Mia was determined to help her and find out what actually happened to her husband. Croft, a mesmerizing storyteller, developed believable characters and multiple narratives with an unpredictable twist readers will not soon forget.
Silent Lies is Kathryn Croft’s sixth novel, as a bestselling British author Croft writes full time and lives in Guildford, Surrey with her husband and son. With special thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for the e-book copy for the purpose of review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers, Bookouture for this review copy, given in exchange for an honest review. Also thanks to Noelle for organising the Blog Tour!

This story is told from two points of view – one from Mia, in present day, and one from Josie, 5 years before. In the present day, counsellor Mia is a widow. Her lecturer husband, Zach, committed suicide 5 years before, on the same day that one of her students, Josie went missing. Everyone blamed Zach for Josie’s disappearance, or even her murder, leaving Mia and her daughter to pick up the pieces. Five years before, Josie is at university. She shares a flat with Alison, but they don’t get on at all. One of Josie’s lecturers in Zach. Zach becomes involved with Josie, not sexually or in a relationship, but as a friend. He wants to help Josie through some of the personal problems that she is currently dealing with, but he also realises how this may be seen as inappropriate given his position. Back in present day, just as Mia is trying to get her life back on track, Alison turns up as a client of Mia’s. Mia doesn’t know her, but Alison reveals to her that she doesn’t think Zach killed himself and she thinks she knows who did.

This is not my first Kathryn Croft book! I’ve read a couple of her other books and enjoyed them, so was keen to start this one! It started off well with the story being set from both perspectives. The points of view change from chapter to chapter. I’m not usually as keen on books written like this, but this one seemed to flow well from each point of view and was easily understandable and not confusing like some are. If you like your fast paced action thrillers, then this is definitely not the book for you. The suspense and mystery were built up slowly and didn’t really come to a head until the very end when you realised what the hell was happening! This slow build up wasn’t a bad thing though, it captured you from the beginning and gave you time to try and work out what was going on. Can I just say, as per normal, I didn’t guess the ending!! I thought I did, but got it wrong….again! The ending was definitely one of those ‘I didn’t see that coming’ moments! There were lots of red herrings and going off down different paths, but I still didn’t expect that! I did feel it ended on a bit of cliff-hanger…..could there possibly be a sequel? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

Five Stars!

Kathryn Croft is hands down, the absolute Queen of killer twists. Seriously, I've read 4 of her books now and just bought the other two, she has fast become one of my favourite authors not just in this genre but overall.

Silent Lies is Kathryn's most exceptional novel yet. Full of twists and turns and her trademark 'nobody can be trusted' style.

Mia is finally getting her life back together after her husband Zach killed himself 5 years ago. Wrapped up in a scandal involving one of his students, Mia has worked hard to escape the stigma that surrounded his death and the brutality of the public towards her and her young daughter Freya. Now set up with her own business as a counsellor and in a new relationship with the lovely, kind Will she has just about put it all behind her.


Enter Alison. Ex flat mate and sworn Enemy of Josie, the girl who Zach got involved with. Alison tells Mia that she doesn't believe that Zach killed himself and Mia's world is shattered wide open all over again. But Alison isn't quite right, in fact she's a little deranged and she's playing a dangerous game and pulling Mia into it with her.


I loved, loved, loved this book. Silent Lies was impossible to put down, I was up until 2am last night reading it and picked it straight back up again this morning. Every twist and turn and wow! That ending. I literally had no idea! I love that Kathryn offers both a satisfactory ending and also a teasing cliffhanger at the end of this one. It's very powerful.

I'm looking forward to reading more from Kathryn soon and want to thank Kathryn, Netgalley and Bookouture for the chance to read this galley.

Great plot, great read and oh what an ending - didn’t see any of that coming!

The plot of Silent Lies was absolutely a brilliant; the suicide of a lecturer, as well as the murder of one of his students. Five years down the line, questions start to emerge as to whether these events happened exactly as were initially portrayed. We are quickly introduced to two main characters, Josie, the victim, and Mia, the wife of the lecturer, Zach. The chapters alternate between the perspectives of the two women, and the way this has been done makes it really easy to follow both stories side-by-side; sometimes it can be difficult to follow parallel stories without getting muddled up with the facts and names, but Kathryn Croft has done it really well.

Immediately you know that all is not as it seems, and the story will unfold in troubling and mysterious ways. Croft has done a great job at building suspense and filling the reader's mind with questions, meaning this is one of those books you just HAVE to read in a hurry - I devoured this one in less than a day!

The writing had all the making of a brilliant story, however I am sad to say that the ending and the 'twists' really disappointed me. Admittedly what we find out at the end is quite surprising, but for some reason I just felt it was very 'meh'. It fell flat. It's difficult to say too much without giving the story away, but throughout the majority of the book we are lead down a certain path of thinking, and then when the twist comes it seems completely out of kilter with the rest of the book. I'm glad the twist came in the last couple of pages, because had it come any earlier I probably would have abandoned reading it.

I can't fault Croft's story-telling ability, it's just the plot here that I felt let down by. I would highly recommend it though, and you can decide yourself how you feel about the plot twist! I'll certainly be looking for more books from Croft though, that's for sure.

I received an ARC from NetGalley to read and review. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, Kathryn Croft, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to review.

Mia Hamilton lived a perfect life with her husband, university professor Zach, and their two-year-old daughter, Freya. One day, when Josie Carpenter, one of Zach's students, vanished, Zach committed suicide. Five years later, Josie is still missing, but Mia has finally found happiness with new boyfriend Will. One day, a stranger arrives, threatening the newfound joy Mia has found. Alison insists that Zach did not kill himself. Desperate to find out what happened to Zach, Mia embarks on a journey with Alison, not knowing that Alison has her own hidden agenda.

SILENT LIES, written by Kathryn Croft, is an adult thriller with mystery elements. This was a fantastic read! The characters were interesting and developed, there were so many twists and turns to keep me guessing, and the ending twist was fantastically done. Once I started reading this, I was hooked and couldn't put it down. It was fast-paced, and I read it in one sitting. I highly recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a great read.

Thanks to netgalley,bookouture and the publisher for letting me read this book. I found it hard to get into the book but boy once I did I was hooked and just had to keep turning the pages!! What a fantastic twist at the end!!! I can't wait for the next one!! Definitely not to be missed!! Highly recommend!!

Wow ! Kathryn Croft does it again . I have loved all her previous books and this one was another gem . I really love the way Kathryn tells her stories and as I know there is always lots of twists and turns I found myself racing ahead trying to work them out ! Boy was I wrong on this occasion . The story is told in too narratives by Mia in the present and by Josie around 5 years ago . We find out that Mia's husband apparently killed one of his students Josie before taking his own life , as the story unfolds Mia is given information by the girl who shared a flat with Josie that hint towards her husbands innocence and she of course starts to investigate . With a too good to be true boyfriend, an unhinged patient the red herrings are many but the ultimate reveal really had me shocked , it's set up beautifully for a sequel . Please write one !!!! Amazing . Thank you for the opportunity to to read this